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Eleazer A. Paine
|died= |placeofbirth=Geauga County, Ohio |placeofdeath=Jersey City, New Jersey |placeofburial= Oakland Cemetery in St. Paul, Minnesota |placeofburial_label= Place of burial |image= |caption= |nickname= |allegiance= United States of America Union |branch= U.S. Regular Army, Union Army |serviceyears=1839–1849 1861–1864 |rank=Brigadier General |commands=4th Division, Army of the Mississippi District of West Kentucky |unit= |battles=Mexican-American War American Civil War *Battle of New Madrid *Battle of Island Number Ten *Siege of Corinth *Battle of Fort Pillow |awards= |laterwork=Lawyer }} Eleazer Arthur Paine (September 10, 1815 – December 16, 1882) was an American soldier, author, lawyer, and a controversial general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was formally reprimanded for brutality toward civilians and violating their civil rights while commanding troops in western Kentucky. Early life and career Paine was born in Geauga County, Ohio. He was a first cousin to fellow future Civil War general Halbert E. Paine. Paine received an appointment to the United States Military Academy and graduated in the Class of 1839. He served in the Mexican War. In 1843, he wrote and published a training manual entitled Military Instructions; Designed for the Militia and Volunteers. After resigning from the army, he studied law, passed the bar exam, and established his practice in Monmouth, Illinois. He married Charlotte Phelps and raised a family. One of Paine's close friends was fellow Illinois attorney Abraham Lincoln.Cowley, p. 124. Civil War and postbellum activities Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Paine was elected as the colonel of the 9th Illinois Infantry. In September of that year, he was appointed as a brigadier general of volunteers. He commanded a brigade at Paducah, Kentucky, a critical supply depot for the Federal army. There, Paine developed a reputation for harshness and cruelty toward the civilian populace. He ordered all guerilla fighters caught within his territory to be executed.New Encyclopaedia Britannica, p. 463. Paine commanded the 4th Division of the Army of the Mississippi at the Battle of New Madrid and Island Number Ten in Missouri leading the 1st Division. He also served in the Siege of Corinth under William S. Rosecrans. He subsequently headed the District of West Kentucky, where his men were deployed guarding railroads from Confederate raiders from November 1862 until April 1864, with his headquarters in Gallatin, Tennessee. His reputation for repressing and stealing from the civilians grew, and Gallatin civilians referred to him as "our King" and "Tempest". Executions were commonplace, typically without benefit of a trial or legal counsel.Williamson Diary On April 29, 1864, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman reassigned Paine and a regiment of his infantry to a post in Tullahoma, Tennessee, to guard bridges crossing the Duck and Elk rivers.Official Records, Series 1, Volume 32, Part 3. He later commanded the military District of Illinois, but resigned in November 1864 and was replaced by John Cook. A congressional inquiry into Paine's actions in Kentucky found him guilty on several counts, and punished him by reprimand at Paducah. He resigned from the army in April 1865 and resumed his law practice. Paine died in Jersey City, New Jersey. He is buried in Oakland Cemetery in St. Paul, Minnesota. Retrieved on 2008-12-27 In some accounts, his first name is spelled as "Eleazar." See also *List of American Civil War generals References * Cowley, Robert, What Ifs? Of American History: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been. Berkley Books, 2004. ISBN 0425198189. * New Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 1983. * Warner, Ezra J., Generals in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964, ISBN 0-8071-0822-7. * U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 70 volumes in 4 series. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1880-1901. Notes External links * Alice Williamson Diary notations on Paine * More from the Williamson Diary Further reading * Durham, Walter T., Rebellion Revisited, a History of Sumner County, Tennessee From 1861 to 1870, Gallatin, Tennessee: Sumner County Museum Association, 1982. * Paine, Eleazar A., Military Instructions; Designed for the Militia and Volunteers... Office of the Northern Ohio Freedman, 1843. Category:Union Army generals Category:People of Ohio in the American Civil War Category:People from Geauga County, Ohio Category:United States Military Academy alumni Category:United States Army officers Category:American military personnel of the Mexican–American War Category:People from Warren County, Illinois Category:Illinois lawyers Category:1815 births Category:1882 deaths